Chapter 75 The Second Truth

Seeing his rudeness, even though Xiao Fuyu was terrified, she couldn't help but glare at him, angrily and resentfully: "How dare you talk nonsense and ruin my mother's reputation?"

"Tsk, I'm almost being wronged by you and your daughter. I don't care whether your mother can give birth or not. Everyone in the capital knows that your mother loves handsome men the most... Yan Penglai, I heard that you were the one under her skirt before..."

Everyone knew he was referring to the "servant under the skirt." Yan Penglai had no choice but to admit, "Yes, Princess Gao was kind to Penglai during her lifetime, so after she passed away, I did go to pay my respects to her. However, this act was so shameful to the county lady that I was so distraught that I didn't even notice the incense ash on my sleeve."

Qian Deng asked, "Didn't Yan Bucheng say before that you and the princess had become enemies and had already severed all ties?"

Yan Penglai sighed softly: "The dead are gone, hatred should be resolved, and kindness should be remembered."

Xiao Fuyu also said stubbornly, "Yes... He did come to pay homage to my mother. I saw that he was sincere, so I allowed him to do so. Why, doesn't Lingling County Master allow it?"

"Although Young Master Yan lives in my backyard, he's a free man. It's normal for him to burn a stick of incense for the princess out of old friendship. But what's abnormal is that Young Master Yan, a known mysophobe, always keeps his hands clean when burning incense every day, so why did his cuffs get stained after burning incense? Moreover, incense is usually burned in the incense burner in front of the spirit tablet, so how could there be incense ash on the princess's face while the spirit tablet was resting in the back hall?"

Qiandeng lifted the lid of the Boshan incense burner beside him and used a pair of chopsticks to push away the incense ash, letting the curling smoke dissipate. "It wasn't until I saw Zheng Raoan lying dead in the incense ash at the Zheng residence in Wubenfang that I understood the whole story."

Even though the Crown Prince was deeply troubled, he was still somewhat surprised to hear this. He wondered why she had mentioned this matter. "Zheng Raoan, the military doctor? I saw the report from Wannian County saying that he locked himself in his home and burned things, and unfortunately died. Is that true?"

"He did die behind closed doors, but the cause of death was ignorance of the toxicity of burning cinnabar, and due to his old age and frailty, he was fumigated to death. At the time, I went with Ling Tianshui, the commander of the Northern Yamen Imperial Guard, to examine the body. The autopsy file is here."

Qian Deng said as he took the file at hand, flipped to the description of Zheng Raoan's body, and read out the following passage: "The deceased had fallen facedown into the incense burner, his face half buried in the incense ash, his eyes half-open, unable to fully close. When I saw Zheng Raoan's death, I naturally thought of the Grand Princess. They died one after the other, one by drowning, the other by incense, yet both could not close their eyes in death. Why?"

The prince pondered, his eyes slowly sweeping across Xiao Fuyu's face: "It's incense ash."

"It's incense ash." Qiandeng picked up a handful of it from the Boshan censer and gently spread it with his fingertips. "After death, if the skin hasn't decayed yet, it still retains elasticity. If it loses water, it dries and curls. It seems that the reason the Grand Princess couldn't close her eyes that day was because someone wrapped in incense ash in a cloth and placed it over Princess Gao's eyes, burning them. This dried the skin around her eyes, caused her eyelids to shrivel, and left her eyes half-open. Princess Changyi used her mother's remains, combined with the nun's prayers, to falsely claim that the Grand Princess was worried about her marriage and couldn't close her eyes. Finally, she secured permission for a warm funeral and marriage."

The Crown Prince stared at Xiao Fuyu, his voice stagnant. "Changyi, you cried and begged so bitterly before, lamenting that your mother would not rest in peace... Could it be that all of this was a ploy against me and the court?"

Xiao Fuyu shook his head and wept, flatly denying it. "No, Your Highness, Your Highness, you must believe me! In this world, the person I can rely on most is my mother. I love and respect her. How could I use my mother's death to manipulate and profit for myself?"

The prince had known her since childhood, and she was the future princess chosen by the late emperor. They had been in love since childhood. Seeing her crying heart-wrenchingly at this moment, his heart was in a mess and he really didn't want to believe it.

"In fact, although Princess Changyi's actions violate human ethics, they cannot be considered unfilial. This is because this was the last wish of the Grand Princess. Everything the Princess did, including implicating the Changhua Palace in the case, seizing the opportunity to marry, and falsely accusing my husband candidate of being the murderer, was all directed by the Grand Princess."

Mingjiu uttered a sharp "Puh!" and angrily said, "Prince of the Great Tang, if you don't punish this venomous woman, I, the Huihe people, will not obey!"

The prince tightened his jaw and said reluctantly, "Don't worry, Prince. If this matter is true, the court will handle it impartially and give you justice."

"Your Highness, I didn't! My mother passed away, and I was more heartbroken and distressed than anyone else!" Xiao Fuyu knelt before the Crown Prince, tears streaming down her face. "I just, I just wanted to avenge my mother, so I was paranoid, thinking everyone was the murderer... Your Highness, after the crime happened, my mother's maid saw it with her own eyes. That day, one of the husbands of the Princess of Lingling County came to see my mother in Qujiang Pond! To exonerate him, she insisted that my mother committed suicide. She's slandering us!"

"It's the princess who's slandering me." Qian Deng ruthlessly refuted her explanation. "The Grand Princess clearly had a nightmare about drowning, yet she still chose to visit Qujiang Lake. She even chose the spot not far from the waterside pavilion where my husbands were celebrating my birthday. She even cleared out all the outsiders—so that when she died, only our people from the Changhua Palace would be by her side, thus confirming her grave crime!"

Xiao Fuyu's lips trembled and he couldn't utter a word.

"Originally, the person you wanted to frame was, of course, me. Unfortunately, I was always accompanied by someone that day, never alone, so I couldn't have committed the crime. But as long as my potential fiancé plotted to murder the princess for me, the crime could naturally be pinned on me. And before your mother's accident, Prince Mingjiu argued with you, mentioning the "letter" and leaving. This led you to decide to label him as the murderer and begin a series of plots against him.

"It's not easy to frame the Huihe prince, but Prince Mingjiu is now in my backyard, and there happens to be someone in the backyard who has received the princess's favor and can be used by your princess's mansion..."

Qian Deng said, turning his gaze to Yan Penglai: "Lord Yan, you told me before that you and the Grand Princess had broken up. But in fact, you did a lot for the Grand Princess after the breakup, and it's obvious that you have reconciled."

"Yes, even though Penglai tried to hide it many times, he still couldn't hide it from the County Master's discerning eyes." Yan Penglai stood before her, his expression calm, but the corners of his lips raised slightly. "I was originally a commoner, and in a short time I became the Grand Astrologer, all thanks to the help of the Grand Princess."

He seldom smiles, but in fact his lips are very suitable for smiling. The color of his lips is a blend of peach blossoms and roses, full of spring.

"So, before the Grand Princess passed away, it was you who met with her at Qichun Pavilion?"

"Yes, all karma, all grudges must be repaid. Since I have received a favor, I should repay it according to the price she set, including becoming her lover."

This was difficult to say, but by now, everyone in the hall knew it, so he spoke calmly and Qiandeng listened with a normal expression.

Only Princess Changyi looked at the sullen prince and blurted out, "Yan Penglai, my mother treats you well, how dare you..."

"Princess, now that things have come to this, let's be honest." Yan Penglai said softly, "Everything you do is based on the princess's last wish; the eldest princess's actions are also out of love for her daughter. I believe His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will understand."

Xiao Fuyu gasped for breath and shed tears. Finally, he collapsed to the ground in despair as if his spine had been pulled out. He stared at Yan Penglai with only his eyes, waiting for his next words as if begging.

A strange thought arose in Qian Deng's mind—

Princess Changyi was not sure what Yan Penglai would say next.

Could it be that the person who has been behind the scenes and pushing forward this case is Yan Penglai?

Behind what she has discovered and what Yan Penglai is about to reveal, is there something deeper that she is unaware of?

Unconsciously, the firelight that Shangluo had mentioned, the tattered green feather fur coat, the burnt duck-cheek fur coat and the cinnabar pendant seemed to emerge before his eyes, causing a thin layer of sweat to seep out of Qiandeng's back.

Is what she hastily discovered the truth?

Are those clues that have yet to be resolved really just meaningless trivialities?